Tow rope retrieving device for water skiers



J. R. SIMS 3,389,676

TOW ROPE RETRIEVING DEVICE FOR WATER SKIERS June 25, 1968 Filed April26, 1967 INVENTOR JOHN R. SIMS BY fiwdiaw AT TORNE United States PatentM 3,389,676 TOW ROPE RETRIEVING DEVICE FOR WATER SKIERS John R. Sims,35930 Rewa Ave., Mount Clemens, Mich. 48043 Filed Apr. 26, 1967, Ser.No. 633,876 8 Claims. (Cl. 115-6.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tow rope retrieving device is mountedbetween and secured to the branches which extend from the tow rope tothe handle bar. It contains a constant-torque springwinding appliancehaving a spring storage drum on which a band spring normally tends tocoil itself but which is unwound onto a smaller diameter spring wind-uphub portion of .a double drum in response to the pull, on the largerdrum portion, of a retrieving line or cable wound thereon and releasablysecured to the wrist of the water skier who has fallen off his skis intothe water. In so doing, he relinquishes his grip upon the handle bar,whereupon the spring winding appliance pays out the retrieving linewhile it winds up the band spring from the spring storage drum onto thespring wind-up drum .and thereby builds up and stores torque force. Asthe towing motor boat halts and backs toward the skier, the retrievingline maintains his connection with the branches of the tow rope. At thesame time, the stored torque force winds up the retrieving line andmaintains the tow rope and its branches in a taut condition, eliminatingany danger of their being fouled by the propeller of the towing boat.

Background of the invention Hitherto, when a water skier falls off hisskis, as frequently occurs with novices, he loses his grip on the handlebar at his end of the tow rope. The towing motor boat cannot backdirectly toward him without incurring the danger and probability offouling the now-slack tow rope in the propeller and around the propellershaft. As a consequence, the towing boat hitherto has been required tomake a wide turn of approximately 360 degrees and at the same time toavoid other motor boats, sailing craft and other water skiers orswimmers in order to get back to its own water skier. The presentinvention enables the water skier who has been thrown olf his skis tomaintain a connection to the handle bar and tow rope, so that the motorboat operator merely has to back his motor boat over a short distance tothe skier.

In the drawing,

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a tow rope retrieving device mountedbetween the branches of the tow rope, according to one form of theinvention; and

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken along the line 22 inFIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIGURES 1 and 2 show a tow roperetrieving device, generally designated 10, adapted to be attachedbetween and secured to the branches 12 leading from the tow rope 14 attheir forward ends 16 to the handle bar 18 at their rearward ends 20.The handle bar 18 is drilled divergently for the passage of the tow ropebranches 12, the rearward ends 20 of which are knotted behind thehandlebar 18.

The tow rope retrieving device includes a hollow casing 22 with parallelopposed side plates 24 and 26 in which are mounted stud or pivot boltsor spindles 28 and 30 respectively. Rotatably mounted upon the pivotbolts 28 and 30 are a spring holding or storage drum 32 and a doublewinding drum 34 having a larger diameter hub or spring-wind-up portion36. A coiled band torsion motive spring 38 is normally wound on thespring storage 3,389,676 Patented June 25, 1968 drum 32 without itsinner end being secured thereto, while its free outer end is bolted orotherwise secured at 42 to the hub or spring wind-up portion 36 of thedouble winding drum 34.

The double winding drum 34 has a still larger-diameter flanged reel ordrum portion 44 to which is secured the forward end of a tow roperetrieving line 46. The rearward end of the line 46 is secured to aquick-release appliance 45 including an eye 48 in a quick-release pin 50having an enlarged head 52 which is releasably held between the oppositespring side arms 54 of a quick-release pin holder 56 connected at 58 toa wrist band 60 which is secured to the skiers wrist W.

The band spring 38 is of such a nature that it nor mally coils itselfaround its small diameter holding or storage drum 32 to which its innerend is not secured except by its frictional gripping effect against thestorage drum 32. The constant torque arrangement or appliance, generallydesignated 62, of the spring storage drum 32, torsion band spring 38 andspring wind-up drum 36 is conventional and is made and sold by theHunter Spring Company of Lansdale, Pa., under the trademark Negatorspring. Its construction is disclosed and claimed in the Foster PatentsNos. 2,609,191 and 2,609,193, and the Lermont Patent 2,609,192, all ofSept. 2, 1952; also in the Cook Patent 2,647,743 of Aug. 4, 1953. In thedevice of the present invention, the band spring 38 has about 40 turnswound on the storage drum, and is about .012 inch thick. In contrast tothe ordinary spiral torsion spring where the force varies as the springis wound up or unwound, this constant-torque arrangement maintains thisforce at a substantially constant level, so that the pull exerted by itupon the retrieving line 46 when it is nearly fully paid out issubstantially the same as that exerted upon it when it is nearly fullywound up on its respective wind-up drum 44. The retrieving line 46 is ofsufficient length, such as feet, to permit a considerable distance toopen between the handle bar 18 and the water skier in the water, so asto give the motor boat operator ample time to stop and reverse his boat.

Means is provided on the casing 22, such as by divergent passageways 64through the opposite side walls 66 thereof, for securing the casing 22to the tow rope branches 12. The latter, for example, are convenientlyprovided with knots 68 (FIGURE 1) Where they enter and leave thedivergent passageways 64 so as to securely locate and hold the tow roperetrieving device 10 between the towing cable branches 12. Theretrieving cable 46 is knotted at its inner end where it is attached tothe drum 44 (not shown), and also near its outer end at 70 to serve as astop. In lieu of the quick-release appliance 45 attached to the skierswrist, it will be understood that the retrieving line 46 may beconnected in any other suitable manner to the skier or to his equipment,for example, to a belt around his body or to his life jacket.

In the operation of the invention while the skier is still standing onhis skis with his hand H gripping the handle bar 18, the pull exerted onthe spring wind-up drum 36 by the tendency of the band torsion spring 38to coil itself around the spring storage drum 32 imparts reverse orwind-up rotation to the spring wind-up drum 36 and consequently to theretrieving line wind-up reel 44, which forms the remaining portion ofthe double winding drum 34. This torque and consequent rotation impartedto the retrieving line wind-up drum 44 causes the retrieving line 46 tobe completely wound up thereon and skiing proceeds normally.

If, however, the skier falls off his skis and relinguishes his grasp onthe handle bar 18, the handle bar 18 and retrieving device 10 continueto be towed along by the tow rope 14 and its branches 12 until the motorboat operator is able to halt his boat, reverse it, and back it down.Meanwhile, however, the pull of the retrieving line 46 attached to theskier, upon the large diameter retrieving line wind-up drum portion orreel 44 of the double drum 34 unwinds the retrieving cable 46 andconsequently rotates the double drum 34. This in turn forces the torsionband spring 38 to be unwound from the spring storage drum 32 and ontothe spring wind-up drum 36 at a substantially constant pulling forceinherent in the arrangement 62.

As the motor boat operator brings his boat to a halt and reverses it soas to back it down, the tow rope 14 and the retrieving line 46 aremaintained taut by the tow line retrieving device 10 as the torsion bandspring 38 is paid out from the spring Wind-up drum 36 and unwinds itselfon the spring storage drum 32 in accordance with its normal tendency.The motor boat operator continues to back his boat down until theretrieving line 46 is wound up sufiiciently on its drum 44 to bring thehandle bar 18 within reach of the skiers hand. This he grasps as heclimbs back upon his skies and resumes; his skiing.

If, by any chance, the motor boat operator fails to notice that thewater skier has fallen off his skis, or is unable for any reason to haltthe boat. before all of the retrieving line 46 has been paid out, thequick-release appliance 45 comes into operation to prevent the skierfrom being dragged, by permitting the enlarged head 52 of the releasepin 50 to be jerked out from between the yielding spring arms 54.

The present invention has been described and illustrated as anattachment to a conventional towing rope and handle bar. It will beunderstood, however, that the invention also contemplates manufacturingthe handle bar molded integral with the casing such as of syntheticplastic with a steel coil inside the handle bar and with the oppositeends of the handle bar projecting from opposite sides of the casing.

I claim:

1. The combination with a water ski tow rope and handle bar, of aretrieving device comprising a hollow casing having means thereon forconnection to the tow rope adjacent the handle bar,

first and second spindles mounted in said casing in spaced parallelrelationship,

a motive spring storage drum rotatably mounted on said first spindle,

a motive spring wind-up drum rotatably mounted on said second spindle,

a motive band spring normally spirally wound on said spring storage drumand extending from one side of ,assasrs said storage drum across thespace between said drums to the opposite side of said spring wind-updrum and having one end anchored to said spring wind-up drum,

a retrieving line wind-up reel also rotatably mounted on said secondspindle and drivingly connected to said motive spring wind-up drum,

a tow rope retrieving line secured at one end to said reel and woundthereon,

and means on the other end of said retrieving line for attachment to thewater skier.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein the line windup reel and thespring wind-up drum are integral and coaxial with one another andconstitute a double-drum member. v

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein the line wind-up reelis'of larger diameter than the spring wind-up drum.

4. The combination according to claim 3, wherein the spring wind-up drumis of larger diameter than the spring storage drum.

5.'The combination according to claim 1, wherein said connection meansincludes divergent passageways through the periphery of said casing,.and wherein the tow rope has divergent branches extending therefromthrough'said passageways to the opposite ends of the handle bar.

6. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said attachment meansincludes an appliance securable to the body of the skier having a lineattachment part secured to the retrieving line and a body-engaging part.

7. The combination according to claim 6, wherein said body-engaging partincludes a wrist band adapted to be detachably secured to the wrist ofthe skier.

8. The combination according to claim 6, wherein said appliance includesa separable connection between said line attachment part and saidbody-engaging part, said connection being responsive to the applicationof a predetermined tension to said retrieving line for separating saidparts from one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1962 Lankey 114235 X 8/1962Calk et al 115 6.1

